


Once More with Feeling

by ellyrox110



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2020-04-10 00:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19074280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellyrox110/pseuds/ellyrox110
Summary: Paul wakes up somewhere he's never been and is on the hunt for his friends.We're not in Hatchetfield anymore...





	1. Chapter 1

The heat from above blistered his skin as an ache permeated his limbs.

Paul groaned as his consciousness dwindled in.

_‘What- Ow…’_

Paul thought as the gentle soreness turned to throbbing pain.

His brain was on cloud nine riding a carousel. Even the dirt beneath him seemed to be against him as he swayed trying to push himself upward.

Achieving a position on his elbows and knees, Paul wiped his eyes with his arm as he hesitated a glimpse of the world.

It was gorgeous, he was up a mountain overlooking a populous city. Buildings clustered like sheep but each unique to itself. Over beyond was a vast body of water shimmering in time with some of the shinier buildings in the surrounding area.

Gaining strength, Paul straightened up, near miss toppling as he swayed unsteady on his feet.

Spotting a nearby tree, he stumbled toward it to gain his bearings.

_‘Where am I?’_

This definitely wasn’t the town he knew, but then where was he?

Paul looked over himself.

He wore a dark green V-neck T-shirt with a pair of jeans and sneakers. Though, there was a noticeable dirt stain down his front from his position earlier.

He brushed some of it off as he checked his pockets.

Oddly enough, all he found was his wallet.

_‘At least I have something,’_ he thought to himself.

He cringed from an intense pain that wracked his insides as he lowered himself to sit down.

Unclenching his eyes, he relaxed as the pain lessened.

_‘Might as well see what I’ve got’_

Paul unlatched the wallet to find his driver’s license and some money.

“Twenty bucks, of course I didn’t leave myself anything,” he muttered breathlessly, realizing how dry his mouth had been.

_‘I need to find some water’_

Paul gripped the tree and wrestled with himself to stand. Taking a look, he spotted a pathway and started toward it.

* * *

 

Walking along the trail, Paul’s thoughts roamed as well.

_‘I can’t believe I got this dirty. I wonder if I can get this stain out?’_

Paul swiped at his shirt but continued on.

_‘This city must be far I don’t recognize it, funny I don’t really know how I even-’_

Paul stopped, his eyes wide, as a realization struck him.

_‘How did I get here anyway?’_

His mind jumped back as Paul was forced to remember his reality.

_‘Holy-!’_

Paul’s body dropped as he was lowered to his knees. He cradled his torso with his arms striving for any sense of comfort.

_‘The Hive, the blue s+ &% it’s all real it’s all-’ _

Paul’s intestines pushed up as bile rose to his throat.

It was immediately shut down by his head being chucked violently to the right.

Paul’s hands gripped his head as the feeling died down and merely nausea remained.

_‘What happened? Where’s Emma? Where’s everyone? Why am I not dead?’_

Paul shook his head trying to clear a path.

_‘Okay, okay, I remember walking up to the theater and blowing up the meteor. So now?’_

Paul looked around as nausea fought the bile back up to the surface.

_‘Well I’m not gonna figure out anything if I die out here. Hopefully I can find a doc that takes walk-ins, or at least limps’_

Paul got up and once he steadied himself, began the trek anew.

* * *

 

Paul reached the edge of the city as the sun too began its descent.

Unknowing if the infection had spread this far, he decided to stay away from any of the more populated areas, yet.

He did need to find a hospital, at least to get himself checked out and find out what just happened.

He spotted a railroad and figured that was his best bet, it went through town and he could see them or hear them best like that.

Barely cognizant, Paul wandered alongside the tracks, stumbling as his brain decided to be on overloaded spin cycle.

He passed by heaps of trash just littered around, attracting flies and rats by its waft.

_‘Well at least animals aren’t extinct’_

Buildings began to appear on the horizon as he staggered on.

After one particularly bad stumble, Paul caught himself with his hands and slid down onto his side. He began to get up as he heard a voice.

“Hey, sir, are you okay?”

Paul yelped as he skittered backwards away as fast as he could.

He braced his arms in front of him and shut his eyes tight.

_‘I’ve been found I didn’t even hear them coming. How could I have been so careless I-’_

“Sir?” the voice asked, hushed.

Paul uncurled himself.

_‘Wait there was no singing’_

Paul opened his eyes to see a gentle tattered gentlemen looking upon him with great concern.

“C-could,” Paul tried to clear his throat, his voice beyond raspy.

“Could you try singing something off-tune for me?” Paul begged.

Please let this be real.

“Um,” the man took a second, “If it’ll really make you feel better.”

He sang the beginning to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and it was the worst thing Paul had ever heard.

Paul’s heart overflowed as he mustered out, “Thank you, oh thank you!”

Paul hugged the gentleman who, while apprehensive at first, genuinely returned the gesture.

As they parted, the man spoke up.

“So are you okay? Do you need a doctor? You’re really pale, and I think you might be burning up,” he placed a hand on Paul’s head as he spoke. The man then removed it and helped Paul to his feet. Paul towered over the gentleman, but he was the cornerstone of Paul’s world at the moment.

“That is exactly what I need, though I’m not exactly sure where I am and I really don’t have much on me…” Paul reflected.

The man waved him off, “Don’t even worry about it, what you need to focus on is just getting there.”

They began to walk with Paul relying most of his weight onto him.

“Thank you so much for this, my name’s Paul.”

“Ah yes! Sorry about that, my name’s Steve.”

They shared a smile as they began to walk.

* * *

 

“So where are we anyway?” Paul quizzed, perplexed.

“Ah don’t you know? Can’t you tell it’s the city of dreams! Good ole sunny L.A.!” Steve replied.

“We’re all the way in California!?!?”

Paul tripped as Steve barely caught him.

“Woah easy there! Don’t wanna take a header and add to this,we’re almost there,” Steve said trying to diffuse the moment. A look of concern detailing his features.

_‘California! The west coast! How had he gotten all the way here!?’_

Paul groaned mentally and physically. Someone else has been using his body and didn’t even care enough to rewind.

“Just in here,” Steve gestured inside the small shop front.

It was a small clinic that seemed to double as a pharmacy, if the signs were to be believed.

Opposite the entrance was a divided counter with one side being labeled “Clinic” and the other “Pharmacy.”

There were two identical small waiting areas on both sides of the room composed of some chairs lined up along the wall. Tables capped the ends of the chair line with magazines on top of them.

Steve deposited Paul into the end chair closest to the counter as he darted to it.

He started pushing a buzzer.

“Phoebe! Hey are you in? Please this guy needs help! Please!” Steve cried out slamming the buzzer over and over again.

Paul never realized how nice tile would feel to his poor downtrodden feet.

The door in the back slammed open.

“ONE BUZZ IS ENOUGH STEVE!” the doctor shouted.

She was donned in full uniform looking more toward a scientist than a doctor. She had her typical doctor’s tools in a pouch that was attached to her top left coat pocket. But her lab coat, goggles, face mask, and gloves all altered her appearance drastically.

“You’re lucky I'm not easily startled otherwise you’d owe me a new lunch,” she began to remove her gear, but the look on Steve’s face gave her pause.

She instantly snapped to and looked directly toward Paul, springing to attention immediately.

She raised her face mask then put her gloves back on, leaving her goggles behind.

She got to Paul and began to give him a once over.

Paul stiffened at the quickness of her demeanor.

As she checked him, she asked, “How are you feeling? Can you tell me what’s wrong? Can you speak?”

Paul nodded.

“My head’s been spinning, and it’s really hard to focus on anything. Uh, I’ve been nauseous...oh! My mouth’s also really dry so it’s hard to swallow,” Paul explained.

“Can you tell me what happened?” She asked.

Paul’s mouth clamped shut as he mulled it over.

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. But for how I got sick, I truly have no idea how I got like this,” Paul fumbled.

She stood up.

“We’re gonna need to bring him to the back, he’s severely dehydrated and needs an IV,” She commanded.

Steve complied and before he knew it, Paul was on his way to the back.

“Are you allergic to anything and are you taking any drugs?,” She prodded.

“No, No! Gosh at least I hope not no,” Paul replied desperation creeping in.

“Alright,” she said as they entered the room, “Get him on the bed I’m gonna get the IV prepared.”

The doctor went across the room past the other two beds and started getting supplies.

As Steve bolstered Paul, Paul’s blood ran cold.

_‘Wait what'll happen when she pokes me? What if some of the blue s+ &% is in me? If she cuts me, what will I bleed?’ _

What if he was infected? What if he somehow infected these people who are trying to help him?

He couldn’t risk it. There’s no way he’s starting this here, he’d die before that happened.

Paul wrestled from Steve’s hold.

“No stay back! Please!”

Steve stared at him bewildered.

“Paul what are you talking about? Look let’s just take a second and relax in the bed-” Steve tried.

He can’t risk infecting him, the guy who practically hauled him all the way here, helped him.

Paul grabbed an empty IV pole.

“Please! If there’s even a chance of it spreading, I can’t let it get you!” Paul pleaded.

The doctor appeared beside him, sedative paired with the IV bag.

“Paul let what spread?” She asked tentatively.

“The Hive! Please I can’t let anyone else get hurt!” Paul started to sway but steeled himself.

Steve began to reach for him, but Paul made a swipe with the pole in his direction.

“You lied to me! You said you weren’t on any drugs!” Phoebe yelled swapping the IV bag for her phone.

“No please you have to believe me!”

Paul looked around.

“Give him a minute Phoebe please I think I can-” Steve pleaded with her.

“No! Steve look at him, I at least need help holding him down.”

While they argued, Paul’s addled brain was on overdrive.

_‘How could I prove it? How could I- the only way I could- that means I’d have to be…’_

Paul looked to the silver utensils lying to his right on the tray, literally on a silver platter.

_‘I can’t believe I’m hoping I’m infected’_

Paul launched over towards the utensils. Grasping the scalpel he turned to them as they stopped in their tracks.

“Please work,” He begged as he pulled the scalpel across his left hand.

The room went dead as Paul stared fixated on his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

“No. no. no. no. no. no. no.” Paul repeated. And repeated. Begging for it to be lies. Begging for some other truth.

His blood ran light purple with specks of blue running throughout.

He collapsed backward into the corner of the room and constricted even more.

_ ‘This isn’t real. I’m dead. Right! I’m dead! I totally blew up that grenade so all this must be some punishment for I dunno not giving to that charity? I totally messed up somewhere, probably in college. And they’re probably just here to torture me. Any minute now and they’ll get out the pitchforks and I dunno, stab me?’ _

Paul looked up to his would be tormentors.

Both Steve and Phoebe were dumbstruck. Steve’s jaw hit the floor as did Phoebe’s phone.

_ ‘Oh this is real. Oh no.’ _

Paul’s desperation rose as he panicked.

His head darted around as it spotted the scalpel discarded on the floor. Quickly, he seized the item.

That’s what shook Phoebe from her stupor.

“No!” She grabbed his right arm that held the scalpel. She pinched his wrist in such a way he was forced to drop it back down to the ground.

“GIVE IT BACK PLEASE YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” 

Paul started to thrash as she got out the syringe.

He looked straight to Steve.

“Please! I need you to restrain me to the bed. If I wake up and start singing or can’t sing badly, do not let me out, and most importantly do not let me touch you. Immediately stop whatever treatment you’re giving me and wait for to either die or wake up myself, do you understand!?” 

Phoebe and Steve both shared a look as the needle rested on his skin.

“You want me to restrain you?” She asked.

“YES!” Paul shouted exasperated.

The needle stayed.

“So you’d be willing to get up in that bed and let me treat you if we restrain you?”

“Only if you’ll stop treatment when I say or if I start singing,” Paul stated.

The doctor looked him over. Seeing the fire in his eyes, she relented.

“All right then, turn around slowly. Steve grab his other hand and hold it behind his back, then help him onto this bed,” She ordered as she pulled back the syringe and walked away.

Once Steve had restrained Paul, he helped him stand up.

Shakily, they proceeded to get Paul over to the bed where the doctor was waiting, syringe and restraints at the ready.

Paul got onto the bed as they shackled his arms and legs.

Steve eyed Paul’s left hand as he clasped the restraint.

Once secure, Phoebe capped the syringe and took out the IV.

“Once I get this going you have a lot of explaining to do, mister,” She said resolute.

For the first time since he woke in this nightmare, Paul let out a soft chuckle.

* * *

 

“-And then I pulled the pin. Next thing I knew I woke up face planted in the dirt in the mountains looking over the city. I wandered for a bit and then that’s when you found me,” Paul stated as he gestured to Steve.

“From there, well, you know the rest. In my defense I was really loopy from the whole dehydration thing.”

Paul shifted so he could sit up straighter, their stares prying into him.

The gentle radio emanating from the next room was the only disturbance to the silence.

Abruptly, Phoebe stood up sending the stool spiraling. She held up her phone.

“Look at you hotshot hero with a love interest who destroyed an alien meteor and saved the planet! Look, there is no such place called Hatchetfield in the U.S., and not even a ‘Clivesdale’ so unless you’re from the UK, something’s up. But, given your technicolor blood I’m inclined to believe that there’s at least something fishy here,” She paused gathering her thoughts.

“Alright then,” She turned and left the room.

Paul looked to Steve, whose eyes held the guilt and pain of all involved. As tears strolled down his cheeks, he reached out for Paul’s left hand, which was now all bandaged up, and held it.

In that one moment, everything Paul had been repressing threatened to well up and burst the dams in place.

His vision blurred with the stockpile of tears.

“Ah I just got this water back and now you’re making me get rid of it? You know you shouldn’t waste water right?” Paul blinked clearing his eyes as tears unleashed down his face. He looked to Steve as they both shared a laugh.

After a moment, Phoebe came bursting back in with a clipboard and some empty vials.

“Okay! Paul if even a little of this is true, you are the find of the century! I have to study you please!” Phoebe begged placing the clipboard in his lap.

“Yeah! Yes! Absolutely go ahead! The only thing is you cannot let this spread,” he glanced downward, “What is this?” 

Paul looked to the papers residing in the clipboard.

“Oh! Those are the liability waivers giving me the ability to research you and if necessary, experiment with you to research the oddity and/or find a cure, is that alright with you?” Phoebe explained.

_ ‘A cure.’ _

Paul’s throat hitched. He could be free. Paul looked to Steve then back to Phoebe. 

If his friends were alive, and he could get the cure…

“Do whatever you need to please, where do I sign?”

Phoebe’s features lit up like a spotlight as she gave Paul a pen and angled the forms where he needed to sign.

Even Steve was happy with the revelation.

“Alright I’m gonna need you to sign and date it here,” Phoebe directed.

After signing his name, Paul paused.

“Wait, what’s today?” Paul asked.

Phoebe pulled out her phone an stated, “June 3rd.”

_ ‘June?’ _

“It’s June?” Paul’s grip on the pen faltered, clattering to the ground.

“June of course, June. It’s hot outside of course it’s June. Why did I expect anything else of course time is still gonna continue,” Paul’s mutterings trailed off.

“Paul?” Steve asked.

Paul paled even more than before as desperation seeped in. Phoebe handed him back the pen. 

The rest of the time was spent in relative silence as Paul signed the papers and the music echoed through the room.

* * *

 

 

As soon as Phoebe got her samples, she was gone in an instant.

Seeing what should’ve been his blood was a chilling sight. 

_ ‘Purple with blue specs, that’s worse than my prom punch and I didn’t even have the guts to go near that.’ _

He looked to his left.

Earlier Steve had grabbed a chair from the lobby and brought it in so he could watch him. 

He’s known Paul less than a day and is already treating him as his own family.

_ ‘Reminds me of a certain barista’ _

Paul’s thoughts drifted to Emma and the others. He could only hope they escaped too, though they were most likely still a part of the Hive. 

Paul’s demeanor dropped.

_ ‘They could be infecting people while I’m just sitting here doing nothing’ _

He shifted around and eyed his restraints.

_ ‘Well it’s not exactly like I could leave anyway, I literally asked for this’ _

Paul looked over and smiled as Steve had worn himself out and was now slumped over and sleeping in the confined chair.

He honestly should be in the same boat as him, but either the fear or adrenaline is keeping him up.

_ ‘Or the fact that I might not be me when I get up.’ _

Paul shifted.

He looked around the room for something to do. 

Phoebe really likes to blast her music when she works, he’s amazed Steve can sleep through this.

Paul looks down toward the button Phoebe had given him earlier.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to hit it and I’ll be right over!” She had said.

Did he really wanna bother her over something like this though? I mean he worked at an office, he knew how to get over boredom.

Steve groaned as he righted himself and stretched his arms far above his head.

“Mornin, actually is it even mornin?” Steve pondered.

Paul looked to the right at the clock on the far wall near the cabinets.

“Nope, you’ve only been out for what, an hour or so? I’m shocked you can even sleep considering everything,” Paul responded.

“I’m more shocked you’re not asleep. You were so pale and could barely hold yourself up to a gentle breeze! How you even got down that mountain is beyond me,” Steve said.

Some scuttering was heard in the next room as Phoebe burst in the door.

“Sorry! How are you doing? How’s your head and nausea levels?” She asked, lacking her usual gloves and mask, but on her way to rectify the problem.

“Nausea’s gone and I can finally somewhat think, but would you mind if I had a magazine or something, or at least if you turned down your music? I know you probably need it to focus but-”

“What do you mean?” Phoebe interrupted.

“What?”

“I’m not playing any music.”

And that’s when Paul began to crumble. The music from before now was as if it was playing right next to him, and he could start to make out some of the lyrics.

**_“Hey brother, where have you gone? Could you pick up a line or answer our call?”_ **

**_“Not over here!”_ **

**_“Or over here!”_ **

**_“Not in the thicket!”_ **

**_“Or past the picket!”_ **

As the song became clearer to Paul, tears cascaded down his face.

“STOP THE TREATMENT!” Paul bellowed.

He began to rip at his restraints.

Steve jolted and tried to hold him down as Phoebe sprinted to undo the IV.

Paul went still as a tune escaped his lips.

“No keep it going! It’ll be fine-NO!”

Paul ripped from himself.

“PLEASE STAY BACK I CAN’T-AH!”

Paul’s insides clenched as nausea ripped through his body.

Paul stared directly into Steve’s eyes, an unnatural blue shining beneath.

“Come closer Steve, for me?”

Steve stared into his abyss and didn’t recognize the person looking back.

Phoebe ordered, “Hold him down I’m gonna get a sample!”

Steve complied as Paul struggled even more, the bars themselves beginning to whine.

Phoebe disconnected the IV and took a dark blue blood sample containing small flecks.

Once done, she retrieved her syringe from her pocket and inserted it into the IV port.

Steve and Phoebe retreated from his spasming form.

“You think that was enough to put me down? You’re gonna need another way to turn this around,” Paul sang.

Paul noticed the bed’s sides begin to creak as his restraints pulled on them.

“HIT ME!” his high note betraying the terror on his face.

As Steve’s fist flew toward him, Paul heard in his mind.

**_“Oh there you are!”_ **

Paul hit the bed and as blue leaked from his nose he muttered,

“They're...coming.”


	3. Chapter 3

Paul awoke to something he had not felt the need to do in a long time.

He had to pee.

He opened his eyes to see the room empty. Though there was now a heart monitor on his left where Steve used to be.

But most importantly, he only heard a faint buzzing in his head. 

The steady observable beeping of the heartbeat monitor next to him cemented him in reality.

Relief flowed through him like a tidal wave.

But speaking of tidal wave.

Paul’s eyes went wide as he tugged on his restraints.

_ ‘Oh no, not a chance! I have a record going for not wetting the bed and today is not the day to start it over!’ _

Paul remembered the button Phoebe gave him.

Frantically, he glared along the ruffles of the sheets for the key to his prison.

_ ‘C’mon I know I freaked out, but there’s no way she’d take it from me, right?’ _

Paul froze as his eyes caught sight of his prize.

...right out of reach on the bed side table.

_ ‘Ah well then’ _

He didn’t want to yell, because what if the infected were here? What if the Hive heard him? What would happen to Steve and Phoebe?

_ ‘But they already know where you are, don't they?’ _

Paul shifted when something on his finger caught on the bed. Not just anything though.

_ ‘The heartbeat monitor!’ _

It has to freak out or something when it disconnects from somebody right?

_ ‘Right?’ _

Oh goodness he hoped he was right.

Hooking it onto the cuff and cleanly sliding the mechanism off his finger, it clicked and fell to the floor as a high pitched tone was released from the machine.

As it beeped, Paul hoped this would be enough to alert them.

_ ‘What if the Hive had gotten to them first?’ _

It would explain why he was alone…

Paul’s thoughts began to tumble down the rabbit hole, before he was scooped out of it by the door being forced open.

“PUT PAUL BACK IN THE BED OR I SWEAR TO- wait Paul?” Phoebe shouted perplexed.

“Phoebe! Steve! Um, I’m not really sure what’s going on, but I really have to pee.”

Steve visibly relaxed as he lowered the metal pole he was grasping.

Phoebe lowered hers as well, but remained irate.

“Why on earth didn’t you just hit the button you scared the crap out of us!”

She demanded as she walked over to shut off the heart monitor.

Paul shrugged with his shoulders and gave an apologetic smile.

Phoebe then stared directly at where the buzzer sat idle on the table top.

Her eyes snapped back to Paul.

“You still scared us,” Phoebe stated.

Steve joined them at the bedside.

“I’m just glad you’re alright! I didn’t hurt you too bad did I? How are you doing?”

Paul looked to Steve as Phoebe checked him over.

“No, you did good! Hey, you got me out! Honestly I don’t feel anything,”

“What about the music?” Steve asked tentatively.

“Not even a note. All I hear is a static buzzing.”

Steve’s smile beamed and lit up the room. 

Maybe he just might make it through this.

“Could you look me in the eyes?” Phoebe demanded.

Paul complied as Phoebe examined him with her way too bright flashlight.

“Alright,” she pulled back and stowed her gear, “let’s get him to the bathroom.”

They undid his restraints and Paul rubbed his wrists.

“Huh,” Phoebe remarked audibly.

Steve helped Paul down from the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Paul asked.

Phoebe got out her phone and began to type.

“You should at least have some lacerations or even just bruising on your wrists, but your skin is completely clear. Could you hold on a second?”

As they stopped, Phoebe grasped Paul’s left hand and began to unwrap it.

“Extraordinary!” Phoebe exclaimed.

The huge cut Paul made earlier was completely healed, no scab and not even a scar.

Paul paled.

“Can we please just get to the bathroom?” Paul whimpered in a low voice.

He gently took back his hand as Phoebe continued to furiously type notes.

Steve took him out the door and across the hall to one of the two patient bathrooms.

“Wait!”

They both turned to see Phoebe approaching, a container in her hands.

“Could you get me a urine sample?” 

She said this with such glee you would think she was talking about anything but the subject she desired.

Paul scrunched his face in a mix of confusion and appall, but took the container anyway.

“Thank you!” She shouted as she rebounded toward another room.

Paul and Steve shared a look as Steve opened the door.

“I’ll be right here, holler if you need me or anything at all,” Steve said holding the door open.

“Thanks, oh and be sure to aim high when you chuck me some toilet paper,” Paul jested.

He gave a weak smile that Steve returned tenfold.

Now alone in the bathroom, Paul sauntered over to the toilet, finally able to relax as his mind roamed.

He conducted his business and collected a sample.

_ ‘Huh,’ _

Paul flushed the toilet and set the sample on the sink.

_ ‘Well pale pee is happy pee...Boy I hate that rhyme,” _

Paul grabbed some paper towels and wiped down the sample container.

He then washed his hands. As he dried them, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror.

_ ‘Wow I look like crap’ _

His eyes boasted this unwavering tiredness as the bags beneath struggled to keep them up. His hair wasn’t any better, the mess flew every which way and seemed to be only a bit longer than he last remembered. 

_ ‘At least the Hive took care of my hair...somewhat’ _

He ran a hand through it instinctively.

His skin was tanner than he last remembered, though he never did go outside much. Well, before all of this anyway.

Paul noticed he was still in his clothes from before. 

The dirt stain seemed to be mostly removed from his clothes, but keen observationist Paul noticed where it still lingered. 

“Are you alright in there?” Steve beckoned.

Paul dismissed his attire as he answered, “Yeah! Be out in a second!”

He grabbed the sample and opened the door.

Steve helped with the door and offered his hand.

“Thank you, but I think I’ve got a handle on walking now. Please catch me if I start to go down though,” Paul said.

Retracting his hand Steve replied, “I dunno, it’d be kinda funny.”

“HEY!” Paul retorted as Steve continued.

“Phoebe wants you to bring that sample to her lab, she says she’s made some progress on this thing that she wants you to hear.”

Paul nodded as Steve showed the way to her lab, carefully watching Paul in case he began to sway.

“It’s just at the end of this hall.”

Steve moved ahead and opened the last door on the left as he gestured him in.

Paul walked in and entered another realm.

It was a fully equipped laboratory with everything a scientist could need from beakers, to burners, to a ventilation cabinet. There were countertops lining the outside of the room with a square table taking up most of the middle of the room.

Paul looked to his left. She even had two other rooms! The door to the first was labeled “Quarantine” with a bunch of hazmat suits, and the next didn’t have a door to it, but you could see it through a window. It contained a glass box on a table and what seemed to be a bed with restraints attached to it.

Paul started to get a headache.

Phoebe looked up from her microscope at their arrival.

“Ah welcome! Did you get the sample?” She said making her way toward them.

Steve closed the door as Paul handed off the sample.

“Interesting! It’s exactly how it should be!” Phoebe remarked.

“Is that a...bad thing?” Paul asked conflicted.

“Maybe! With how the specimen is affecting your body, having a normal human reaction could be devastating. But! As far as I can tell everything’s alright, the diuretics are doing their thing and you’re not singing like your theater troupe, so everything is going swimmingly so far!” Phoebe stated as she walked back over to the table with the sample.

_ ‘Oh...great. Wait my troupe?’ _

“What do you mean my theater troupe?” Paul questioned.

Steve and Phoebe shared a remembering of forgetfulness look.

“Yeah so your friends paid us a visit. At least we’re pretty sure they were with you, they came in with such flair and had this sing song quality to their voice. Anyhow, they asked if you were here and of course I denied everything. I told them I was preparing to close for the day for some seminar or something, and well whatever I said it worked! They left without much fuss. Though they did try to swing around and go through the back door, though I had Steve back there, and he scared them off. The old ‘Drunk and disorderly’ routine,” Phoebe jested as she shot a goofy face to Steve whose face reddened with embarrassment.

“They had these crazy plastered on smiles though…” Phoebe continued.

Paul immediately retorted, “Can you tell me what they looked like?”

Phoebe set down the sample and removed her gloves. After which she fished for her phone and pulled up something.

“You can see for yourself.”

She handed him her phone which had security footage on it. As it played, it showed three people strut into the clinic.

“Bill, Alice, and Deb! They’re okay!” Paul shouted as tears poured from his eyes.

He hadn’t failed them! There was still a chance he could save him!

_ ‘Yeah like you could make up for Bill getting shot in the face by his daughter’ _

Paul choked a bit as the tears kept flowing. Steve put a hand on his back and even Phoebe ripped herself away from her work.

She took back her phone and quietly said, “Hey it’s gonna be alright, do you wanna hear about what I’ve found?”

That’s right he can’t focus on that now! He could possibly cure him!

Paul wiped his eyes as a smile dominated his face. He nodded to Phoebe who proceeded with what she had.

“Alright! So far I’ve only been able to gather some rudimentary facts about this thing, but boy is it fascinating!”

She walked over to the opposite side of the table with Paul and Steve trailing. Once there she begins to don her usual gear.

“It is definitely not a known species that much is certain! It’s basic makeup is cellular in form, so it’s not a virus or otherwise. And so far as I know it has two forms, this one,” She holds up various blue specks held in a little glass container. 

“Which seems to be a sort of protective form that can last for unknown amounts of time. This form of it can be reborn by reintroducing it to liquid, as we will see in there.” 

She points to the window of the second room.

She took off as they tried to keep up both mentally and physically.

They enter the first room which is lined with lockers and a bench in the middle of the room. The big yellow hazmat suits hanging on the far wall.

“You guys aren’t going to need to get all suited up, as its current state is not airborne, but I do require that you put on a face mask and gloves.”

Paul and Steve accept them from her and put on the gear as requested.

“All right! Just one more thing and then we’ll be set to see the specimen.”

They go through the other door, which leads to a very small room with vents on all sides. 

The door slammed shut behind them.

“Hold onto your face masks boys.”

Air began to shoot out from all directions, bombarding them with high intensity blasts.

Paul barely holds his footing as he’s blown every which way, though his grip on his face mask only tightens with each blast.

Then as abruptly as it started, it was over.

“Come along you guys,” Phoebe beckoned as she opened the other door and strode toward the glass case, which was equipped with it’s own rubber gloves.

Paul and Steve both shared a fearful look as they walked into the room.

“Now this is it’s other form! It’s the more ‘active’ form with a cell like structure, though it notably lacks a true cell wall. It can even move by displacing the liquid inside itself! This is the main difference between the protective form and this one, as it can be reborn into this form with the simple addition of water.”

Paul stared down at the blue s+&% before him.

_ ‘That crap is in me’ _

Paul’s headache began to worsen.

The blue s+&% began to come together into a slug-like form and inch slowly toward where Paul was standing.

_ ‘It’s alive.’ _

This harmless little glob of goop was what he was afraid- No, terrified of. 

And it was barely bigger than his finger.

Entranced, Paul reached out his hand, and as he nearly set it on the box, the buzzing turned to ringing in his ears.

That’s when he caught sight of it.

His own eyes shining a dull blue back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings! Thank you guys so much for reading this at all!  
> Terribly sorry for well, everything. I'm new to this site and honestly I'm not sure how to use the tags or really much of it.  
> I honestly even had to look up what kudos were. Sorry!  
> If there's anything I need to adjust or fix please let me know.  
> Otherwise, I hope you find joy in my senseless ramblings!


	4. Chapter 4

“NO!” Paul retracted his hand and held it close.

The ringing in his ears faded. As Paul backed away.

“What happened!?” “What’s wrong!?” Both Phoebe and Steve shouted in unison.

Paul’s back hit the wall as he focused on breathing.

He opened his eyes to see Steve and Phoebe approaching.

“St-STAY BACK! Please I-”

Paul realized there wasn’t any music, there was no pain or anything else.

He waited for the fight that never came.

_ ‘Wait I’m still in control?’ _

Paul blinked a couple of times as he looked to his hands. He turned them back and forth and just stood there, watching them.

“Paul talk to me buddy, what’s going on?” Phoebe prodded.

Paul looked up dumbstruck.

“Hey uh, are my eyes blue? Like-like glowing blue?” Paul asked.

They both squinted as Phoebe answered, “No…”

Paul stood up straight away from the wall.

“Good, I uh, good. Please continue, Phoebe.”

Phoebe immediately stood up and put her hands on her hips.

“Woah Woah Woah there mister! You’re not passing by without an explanation to that! Wait! Did your proximity to it cause something? Were you able to communicate with it?” Phoebe prodded as she stepped closer and closer to Paul.

Paul, losing his personal bubble, sidestepped her and began to explain.

“Well I- I don’t think so. Once I put my hand right where the blue s+&% was, a ringing started and my eyes kinda started to glow. I remember seeing some of the other’s eyes do that so I kinda freaked out.”

Paul ran a hand through his hair.

“Fascinating! So even though most all your specimens are in protective form, close proximity of a certain amount of active form was able to trigger a response to it! Extraordinary!” Phoebe exclaimed, rapidly typing.

_ ‘Yeah, Extraordinary’ _

Paul grimaced as he glared at the sample.

“Hey are you okay?” Steve asked.

Darn those compassionate eyes.

“I won’t be truly okay until people don’t ask me that anymore, but for now I’m doing alright, I’d just rather get this thing out of me as fast as possible,” Paul stated, frustrated.

_ 'Or at least out of my friends' _

He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hey Phoebe, is there any way to kill it or at least extract it?” Paul asked bluntly.

Phoebe’s face fell a bit, but immediately recovered, “As far as I’ve been able to determine, it’s weakest ironically in its protective state. It has little to no control over its host and should be able to be disposed of by incineration, but how to get it out of the subject I can’t determine. I just don’t have enough data to work from, -yet anyway!”

She went back over to the case.

“But with this new bit of data I think I might be able to find out something.”

Paul’s face lit up.

“What do you need us to do?” Paul asked confident.

Steve mirrored his confidence and stood next to him in support.

“Right now, I’m going to need some more blood and protective samples to work with, if that’s alright?”

Paul smiled.

“You can count on me! Drain me like a firehose!”

* * *

 

Paul rubbed his eyes.

_ ‘That took a lot longer than expected’ _

He wandered back toward the patient quarters. 

_ ‘I know I told her to drain me, but she took way more than I thought she would’ _

Paul rubbed the crook of his elbow absentmindedly as the world swayed a bit more than usual.

_ ‘I already can’t have much water in me, at this point I’m not gonna have any liquids left to take’ _

Paul opened the door to the quarters, where he saw Steve sitting next to his bed with a laptop in hand.

Steve turned as Paul walked over.

“Oh hey! Phoebe’s letting us borrow her laptop! She doesn’t want you using the front computers, in case one of your buddies walks by,” Steve explained.

_ ‘Wow I guess I passed out for a bit if she was able to come over and talk to Steve.’ _

Steve then handed Paul the laptop as he sat on the bed.

The listed search was composed of just “Paul Los Angeles.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t really get all that far. I don’t exactly know your last name,” Steve sighed, “Did you know you have a lot of churches and establishments with your name?” 

Paul jested, “Oh didn’t you know I was a saint?”

They both shared a chuckle as Paul began to search.

_ ‘Paul Matthews Los Angeles’ _

He had to sift through a good bit of people, until he hit the news.

_ ‘New plays coming to the Matrix Theater’  _

Paul investigated further.

_ ‘New play set to premiere May 27th,’ _

“The Guy who didn’t like Musicals?” Paul stated bewildered.

Steve perked up and leaned in.

“Set to star Jon Matteson as...Paul Matthews!?” Paul’s voice hitched.

He ripped into his pocket and grabbed his wallet.

Removing the license, he stared it down.

“Jon Matteson from...Chicago, Illinois!? This license is a fake!” 

He didn’t even have his own driver's license. He literally had nothing from Hatchetfield, except for himself and, well, his uninvited body-mate.

He groaned as he placed “his” license back into his wallet and put it away.

_ ‘That means I’ve actually been in a stupid musical and not just the apocalypse one’ _

_ ‘This sucks’ _

Paul sulked as Steve spoke up.

“Hey! At least we know what your friends names are, and where they’re going to be!”

Paul perked up.

“You’re right. If we can get the cure to work then we can take care of everyone at the same time!”

They both shared a solid high five as they researched the play.

“Okay, so apparently the others play multiple roles each, so I’m not 100% sure who made it out, but we can definitely count that Bill, Alice, and Deb are among those that are here,” Paul deduced.

That’s when the door opened.

“Hey guys! I’ve made a breakthrough!”


	5. Chapter 5

“What did you find out?” Steve asked.

Paul still felt uneasy being anywhere near the active blue s+&%. But, Phoebe needed to demonstrate something.

In the glass case, it appeared as if there was a greater amount of active specimen.

_ ‘Great she turned more of it on’ _

“Time for an update! So far as we know, if close enough, the active form can trigger a response from the protective form, correct? Well it doesn’t merely just cause a reaction, observe!”

Phoebe pulled out a glass container of unmoving specks. 

When she pressed it against the box right next to the blue s+&% however, is when things started to get interesting.

The protective form began to emit a blue light as the active inched toward it. 

_ ‘No not move, more like it’s being...’ _

“-Pulled! The active form can detect and is drawn to the protective form. Once it’s grabbed it, the active can incorporate the protective into itself and reactivate it! My theory is, the greater the amount of protective specimen, the greater pull it’ll have!” Phoebe expanded. 

She continued, “If can design a system where the protective can manipulate the active into coming toward it, but then have it be redirected somewhere else, we just might be able to save your friends and anyone else infected!”

The news settled onto the room as Paul grabbed onto the bed for support.

_ ‘There’s a chance’ _

“We could have a cure, we could actually cure them,” Paul sputtered as tears welled in his eyes.

Steve and Phoebe turned to him with a look of hope.

“Holy crap, I’m such a crybaby,” Paul sputtered, sniffling.

_ ‘This could all be over with. To make it right and get this crap behind us’ _

Paul wiped his eyes, determined.

He brought his hands together in a resounding clap.

“Alright! How long do you think it’ll take you to build it?”

Phoebe shuffled in place.

“Well... this is still just a theory. We’re gonna have to run some tests. I’m not even sure if I could make the structure, and, even if I did, I don’t know if I could do it perfectly, let alone properly. There’s a number of parts that I just don’t know and that could cause a malfunction in a devastating capacity which in turn could doom the entire project and-” Phoebe sputtered.

“Phoebe!” Paul cut her off.

She looked to him perturbed.

He calmed himself.

“What can we do to help you make it not a theory?”

Phoebe took a breath and exhaled.

“At the moment, we need someone to work with me to make schematics and actually create the machine to perfection. Because if the flow is interrupted in the slightest, it could cause the protective to activate early and all of it to flow right back into the subject and-”

“Phoebe!”

She sighed, “Right. I just don’t know anyone that could do this or even what tools and materials we could need.”

They all stood silent for a moment.

“I might know somebody,” Steve propositioned.

Paul and Phoebe whipped toward Steve.

“An old friend of mine did all that engineering stuff, they’d probably know how to do that. They even got a job in a big company!” Steve explained, “thing is we haven't talked in a while though…”

Paul looked around.

“Well it’s the best chance we’ve got so far. Do you think you could call em?” Paul asked.

Phoebe handed Steve her phone to use. 

He took it as a melancholy look crossed his face as he paced into the hallway.

Paul pondered this before being interrupted by Phoebe.

“CRAP!” Phoebe shouted, arms to the sky.

Paul was thrown for a loop trying to ponder this now.

She continued, “I just can’t do this half-way, all the things that could go wrong, all the unknown factors, I barely even understand its base living condition! Let alone how it reproduces! If I could just have my previous equipment then I’d already thoroughly understand this stupid piece of, ARGH!”

She stomped to the back of the room beyond her table where she huffed and belligerently slumped her posture.

Paul softened and walked to her.

“Hey,” Paul spoke softly.

Phoebe looked up, anger seeping through her features that rinsed away as she looked into his eyes.

Paul and Phoebe shared a smile.

“Look, the amount you’ve been able to learn even without your gear is leagues beyond what I could ever hope to uncover! After everything you’ve discovered, you shouldn’t have any doubt that you’ll figure it out,” Paul stated.

Phoebe’s features relaxed.

Paul continued, “Man, I’m insanely lucky you guys even decided to help me at all! Usually when someone starts bleeding something that’s not red, that’s generally when they get thrown out or killed on the spot,” Paul said with a pensive chuckle.

A peace settled over the room which was coarsely interrupted.

The door burst open.

“All set! We have ourselves an engineer!”


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as Steve made his announcement, he was off to freshen up.

Phoebe likewise turned right around on her heels to go back and run some additional tests in her lab.

Paul took a more relaxed walk over to his unofficial bed in the patient room.

_ ‘Always quick around here, huh’ _

Paul let out a sigh.

All that was left was to wait for whoever’s arrival.

Paul sat down. 

He looked to the clock then drifted as his eyes wandered around the room.

_ ‘Those ceiling tiles, eh?’ _

Paul huffed and brought his attention to the wall in front of him.

What was there to do? It’s not like he could physically do much at the moment anyway. The extended forced dehydration was taking more of a toll on him than before. But still...

Boy did he hate waiting around.

_ ‘I could try to go back and help Phoebe…’ _

She could definitely use him, especially to draw the active and see how it reacts to the protective in a person.

A shudder ran through him.

_ ‘Those eyes…’ _

The mirror image of himself ripped through his mind.

His smile unnaturally held by weary cheeks. Drifting up to lock with his eyes. 

The blue glow sharpening as the moments passed, piercing his very soul.

A wave of dizziness ran through him as he put a hand to his head and anchored the other to the bed as he tried to steady himself.

Paul took a second to breathe.

As soon as the wave passed, Paul looked up.

The dread began to leave him as he grasped for confidence.

_ ‘Well if anything, she can maybe give me a little bit of that IV stuff so the room stops doing a 360. And if she wants to test something and I help....yay’ _

Even in his own head he sounded pathetic.

Paul carefully stood from the bed and went to Phoebe’s lab.

He knocked on her door.

Ever courteous, he waited a moment and then opened it a crack.

“Hey, Phoebe?” Paul announced poking his head in.

Spotting her in the quarantine room, Paul went over to the window.

She had activated even more of the slime, but sectioned them off into two groups in the glass containment unit. 

In front of her on a different table, was a small vial containing a bit of specimen that was being heated over a burner.

Slowly the slime collapsed in on itself then expanded out into a solid dark blue chunk.

Phoebe excitedly turned off the burner and typed at a frantic pace.

When her typing slowed to a halt, Paul rapped gently on the window to get her attention.

She looked up toward the glass and pointed to the suit room.

Paul nodded and followed her instructions.

After decontaminating, Phoebe entered the room, her gloves and facemask disposed of in the decontamination chamber.

“What’s wrong, is everything okay?” Phoebe produced some new gloves and facemask and got to work immediately checking him over.

Paul put his hands up in surrender.

“No- no, it’s fine...mostly. It’s just that I’ve been a bit dizzier than before and the nausea’s starting to get to me…” Paul mumbled.

Phoebe relented her search.

“Ah okay! While I’d bust out the IV in a heartbeat, I’d rather if the previous incident didn’t occur again, since we don’t have a full grasp on the exact limit of hydration necessary to keep the specimen in check. But! I’d also rather if you didn’t go critical again,” Phoebe said while walking toward the main lab.

“So, I want to try small sips of water and see how that goes, would you be up for that?” Phoebe went around the table and grabbed a water from a tiny mini fridge off to the side.

She measured out a half of a cup and held it out for Paul.

Paul shrugged and nodded, accepting the water.

“Drink this in small sips, don’t even think of chugging it! Nurse it like a whiskey, okay?”

Paul looked down at the cup.

_ ‘Welp, at least this experiment doesn’t require needles’ _

Paul took a small sip.

His lips and mouth praised the water they received after such a drought allowing him relief, if only momentarily.

Paul physically had to restrain himself from just downing the entire drink.

_ ‘Since when did water taste this good!?’ _

After an agonizing eternity, Paul finished the cup. 

“Alright, I’m going to be monitoring you to see how this trial is different from the saline solution I would’ve given you,” Phoebe said taking the empty container from him.

She decided to swap the nice cup for the wretched needle.

Paul grimaced.

_ ‘Ah man! Spoke too soon’ _

Paul readied himself to be drained dry.

“Don’t worry, I'm only going to be taking a small blood sample.”

Paul visibly relaxed as Phoebe prepped and removed a sample.

She put a band-aid over the wound and looked to him.

“I’m going to need you to stay away from the testing room so the active doesn’t mess with the results, okay?”

_ ‘Best test ever!’ _

Paul’s heart fluttered.

“Yeah! Yeah I can do that!” Paul said a bit too excitedly.

Phoebe loaded the blood sample into the centrifuge and made her way to the test room.

As she entered the test room, she immediately began to jump into another batch of experiments.

_ ‘She doesn’t take a break does she?’ _

Paul watched Phoebe dart from one task to another, never seeming to slow.

Paul felt like he was watching a pinball bouncing around the machine, she seemed to fling this way and that.

_ ‘Gonna have a new high score soon’ _

She stopped on a dime and began to mess with the glass boxes containing active and protective.

The active twitched and squirmed toward the encapsulated protective.

Paul sneered.

_ ‘Man it’s weird to watch that crap move, even slowly. I thought she already tested this?’ _

Phoebe then pulled out a container of active and added it into the big glass container.

Putting her hands through the gloves attached to the container, she grabbed a pipette and the box of active from the inside. With steady precision, she began to pipette set amounts of active allowing it a controlled growth.

An unsettling feeling perturbed Paul as he watched active expand. 

He remained steadfast, invested to see how this turns out.

Once the active reached a certain amount, it began to split. Now only part of it ventured over to the protective, the other remaining still.

Phoebe removed her hands for mere moments to type her ever present notes.

Her attention wasn’t dispersed for long, as her hands were right back into the box, along with two new clear containers of active.

Once the boxes were set about a foot apart, the draw to the other was instantaneous.

_ ‘That’s it! I’m out’ _

A chill ran up Paul’s spine as he backed away from the glass.

_ ‘I’m glad Phoebe can stand this crap. I’m ready to scrub my skin raw just looking at it’ _

He ran a hand through his hair.

Feeling anxious, Paul began to wander around the lab.

Not soon into this task, he heard a loud crash.

_ ‘That was from the lobby’ _

Paul raced out of the room to see what was going on.


	7. Chapter 7

Paul sprinted to the door and threw it open.

In the lobby was a knocked over table and a woman hugging Steve like she was going to suplex him.

“Um is everything okay?” Paul asked hesitantly.

Steve turned.

“Oh hey!” Steve looked over.

“This is Robin! And Robin, the guy who just came in is Paul!” Steve introduced.

She unburied her face and disregarded Paul as she stared directly at Steve.

“You jerk! I- I haven’t seen you in years and you’re just gonna treat that like it was nothing!?” Robin bellowed, “What the crap even happened!? You just-”

Robin looked into his eyes and stopped in her tracks. There was no malice, nor otherwise as she stared, searching for something to hate him for. All they contained were pools of love and admiration directed right toward her.

She let go of him and took a step back. Her shoulders slumped in exhaustion as she looked wistfully at Steve.

She huffed and turned away.

“Hi Paul,” She greeted and waved with a pained smile.

Paul waved back.

“Hi Robin,” confusion permeating his features.

Steve righted the overturned table and said, “Honey, let’s take this to the back, you still have to meet Phoebe too!”

They all collected in the hallway and waited for the door to close.

Robin’s eyes never left Steve.

“Dad, it’s so good to see you again! Don’t get me wrong, I’m ready to beat the crap out of you for worrying me, but-” she took a second and calmed, “-You sounded really desperate on the phone, what’s going on?”

Paul and Steve shared a worried look.

_ ‘Wait, dad?’ _

“Wait, Robin’s your daughter!?” Paul belted.

Steve flashed a sheepish smile, providing no response.

He turned toward Robin and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Her eyes raised to meet his.

“I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but this is really urgent, is there any chance I can delay that explanation until we can help out Paul here?” Steve begged.

Robin looked back and forth from both Paul and Steve, a grimace contorting her features.

She sighed, “Fine. Of course you’re trying to help somebody, let’s go then.”

They embraced each other for a loving moment, then broke apart.

“But you won’t get away without an explanation once this is done, is that clear?”

The trademark Steve smile shone on Robin’s face as Steve agreed.

_ ‘I guess they are related. Huh’ _

The party continued to Phoebe’s lab.

She opened the door just as they approached.

Her eyes locked to Paul.

“Paul! Where did you go? You just disappeared on me! You can’t just- oh hello there!” Phoebe paused.

Robin smirked.

“Hello! My name’s Robin, and you are?”

“Phoebe! Oh this is wonderful, please come in!” Phoebe ushered us into the lab.

Once inside, Phoebe explained the situation.

“Aliens. You want me to believe aliens have landed and started infecting everyone? And you want me to believe this guy’s one of them?” Robin rebutted pointing at Paul.

“Well I’m not- well sorta am but not really-” 

Paul muttered as Phoebe grew impatient.

Phoebe grabbed a scalpel and Paul’s right arm.

“Hey wait!”

Phoebe razed the blade quickly and cleanly across his forearm.

Paul went to cover the scratch with his hand, until he was gently restrained by Steve on his left.

Paul looked to Steve, then over to Robin.

Oh, she became a believer real quick.

“Holy! What the- I-” 

Robin’s gears were visibly turning from the strain as her hands gestured around wordlessly. 

_ ‘I guess this is pretty shocking. I mean it scared the living crap out of me when everything started happening, though those were definitely different circumstances…’ _

She finally flung her arms to the sky.

“Okay! Okay.” She looked to her father before continuing, “I believe you guys.” 

Her arms lowered and crossed.

“What do you need me to do?”

Phoebe let go of Paul and cleaned the blade.

As Steve tended to Paul, Phoebe explained, “We need you to help us make a contraption that’ll get the active specimen out of the other infected and contain it, do you think you can do that?”

Robin thought for a second.

“I’m gonna need materials and a better explanation,” her smirk grew to a full smile, “But, let’s do it!”

\---------------------------

Robin went and grabbed some tools out of her car, as Paul stared at the new bandage on his arm.

_ ‘Why does it come to this?’ _

Paul groaned as Robin entered.

“Alright!” She placed her tools on the lab table, “Let’s get to it!”

Phoebe and Robin took off together. They marathoned discussing everything that concerned the goo, to just about every other topic that related even faintly to what they were trying to accomplish.

Meanwhile, Paul and Steve kept pace in the early parts of their conversation though, as time went on, the topics and diagrams dealt a sucker punch to their heads and left them to stagger around lost.

Steve smartly left the room when it got to be too much, though Paul remained in the alley of confusion.

Later in their discussion, it was concluded that it would take some time to fully get the specimen out of the infected subject, so the machine was going to have to be stationary.

“What are we going to have as the attracting force? We don’t exactly have enough protective gathered to get all of it out…” Robin muttered.

They both whipped their heads to Paul.

_ ‘Of course’ _

“There’s no way I’ll get re-infected, right?” Paul asked, tense.

Phoebe whipped out her notes.

“Well, there’s a 14% chance it might malfunction... but that’s merely accounting for unknown variables, so yeah you’ll probably be fine!”

_ ‘Yay probably!...' _

“Alright! Now all that’s left is the materials. Steve, I’m gonna have you go and get them while Robin and I perfect the schematics,” Phoebe ordered.

She looked down and scribbled amongst her notes.

“Um wait, what about me? I can help him carry,” Paul offered.

Phoebe set down her notes.

“No way, you’re staying here,” Phoebe stated.

Paul readied to argue.

Phoebe huffed and caused him to hesitate.

“Look, Paul. You are the only chance we’ve got to cure your friends, and I’m not about to let you out there and lose that shot. For all we know your friends are waiting right outside to ambush you the split second you leave. This isn’t even accounting for the pull they could theoretically have on you. There’s too many unknowns out there. And let’s face it, without you, your friends are doomed.”

Paul slumped his shoulders. She wasn’t wrong, without him as bait they’d have to capture someone else, dehydrate them, and hope they even survive, let alone long enough for them to capture another infected and cure them, if they can even get the machine to work. By then the Hive might have even completed whatever task they set out over here to do. 

He just hated waiting.

“Alr-”

“Wait.”

Steve interjected cutting off Paul.

“Look, I really don’t want to risk any of this, but right now we’re running against the clock. The fact is, I can’t carry all the things you need back by myself, and you two have to stay here to get the system up and running. Because you’re right, you don’t know where they are, we don’t even know if or how far they’ve spread throughout the city! What we do have is a chance to turn this around and fix it,” Steve stated, “Beyond that is up to fate.”

Phoebe and Paul were both taken back by his words.

Phoebe’s expression grew pained as she looked over the supply list.

Robin deposited her two cents.

“It would take way too long and be extremely suspicious if Dad kept going back and forth to the store. We’re already pretty sure they know that we know about them and are probably none too happy about it either. Whatever the Hive is, it’s probably already gunning for us. I know Paul is crucial, but we honestly don’t have a lot of options to pull this off before we get wrecked by them. Unless you’ve got some friends that could help us out with this, we’re stuck trusting only the people in this room. All those I trust are way too far away to get here in any modicum of time, what about you guys?”

Steve shook his head.

Everyone looked to Phoebe.

“Oh I’m regretting that partial isolation for research now...alright fine! If anything happens to him though, you’re done for!” 

_ ‘As might we all be’ _


	8. Chapter 8

As Phoebe and Robin began their work, Paul and Steve set out to the streets.

_ ‘Well they haven’t ambushed us yet so that’s good’ _

Paul checked the battery then pocketed the phone Phoebe had given them.

Luckily, she had both a work phone and a personal cell phone, otherwise they definitely wouldn’t have been able to leave.

He could still remember her words of warning or-how do you call them...ah yes! Threats!

“If anything, ANYTHING happens, you breathe wrong, you stub your toe, you better call that instant! Understood!?” Phoebe had said.

Paul had zoned out as he looked over to Steve.

“-so should we just head directly for the theater or?” Steve pondered.

“What?” Paul responded.

Crap he missed all of that.

Luckily Steve repeated, “For how we’re gonna find your friends after we get this machine up and running. Should we just go directly for the theater, or do you think they’ll be waiting for us?"

Paul hadn't even thought about actually finding them, getting a cure was impossible enough of a problem. Thinking about a plan on how to administer it is probably a good call though.

“I guess it's at least a place to start. I mean we should scout it and see what we’re up against and, if we’re extremely lucky, capture one of them to cure. Only if we find one alone that is,” Paul responded, "That might be hard too cause with the right song they can definitely fight back..."

Steve knitted his eyebrows, “You know kidnapping is still a crime right? And I don’t think our best excuse is gonna be that they’re ‘Evil alien conquerors, we swear!’”

He chuckled, then resumed his query.

“How would we even transport them? Throw them over our shoulder and hope no one asks why we have someone tied up and carrying them like a sack of potatoes?”

Paul ran a hand through his hair.

_ ‘Wow I’ve been in apocalyptic mode for a while, huh?’ _

“Yeah I uh, crap, wow that’s true,” Paul stammered, “I mean we might be able to bait one, y'know? But then they might warn the others…”

They approached the store.

“Maybe, we’ll see. I mean now that I think about it, we could just say we’re taking them to the doctor!” Steve chuckled as the walked the aisles.

Eventually, they found all the things they were looking for and set off back to the hospital.

Steve was carrying two bags and a couple big slabs of sheet metal, while Paul was sporting five overfilled bags encompassing most of him.

_ ‘Man they’re gonna use all of this?’ _

Paul readjusted his bags and grinned.

_ 'Look at us strutting outta here about to save the world. Everyone else probably thinks we're taking on a DIY project' _

Paul looked to the bags they were carrying.

_ 'Could make a rad toolbox though' _

They continued on for sometime until they passed a park.

Walking along, Paul gazed at the various families and friends scattered around enjoying the other’s company.

His mind fluttered back to his family and friends back home before thinking on about his new friends.

_ ‘It’s gonna be okay, they’re gonna help me save them and then everything will be alright’ _

Paul looked over to Steve for reassurance as they walked under the shade of a large tree.

Steve’s face went pale.

“Uh Paul- Your eyes are glowing.”


	9. Chapter 9

If Paul had anything to sweat he’d be drenched.   
Accusations and assumptions flew through his mind, pouncing from thought to an even more unbearable thought before hitting a breaking point.  
 _‘What if the goop is taking apart my cells for water?’_  
In an instant, Paul’s fight or flight kicked into high gear.  
And boy was he a bird.  
He booked it as Steve gave chase.  
 _‘It can just build itself again right? Destroy now, get water, fix later- I can’t lose myself-!’_  
A grab to his arm slowed his roll and his thoughts as they both stopped running for a moment.  
“Whoa there Seabiscuit!” Steve released his arm quickly, “Let’s just take a moment and stop drawing attention to ourselves, can you tell me how the weather is right now?”  
Paul’s heart beat so loud he barely heard him.  
“Uh- uh it’s sunny with maybe some clouds and I just have to get away from you-” Paul stammered as he turned.  
Steve slammed both hands on his shoulders, anchoring Paul in place.  
“You need to calm down, Paul. There’s no singing and I can bet you don’t hear music. Now we’re gonna hurry back there together without drawing any extra attention to ourselves and let the doc handle this, alright?”  
Paul relaxed and they continued at a more hurried walking pace.  
Steve apologized.  
“I didn’t mean to spook ya, geez, you take off like an alley cat hearing a trash can lid slam I swear-”   
Steve spoke, but it faded as Paul’s mind wandered.  
 _‘Why are my eyes glowing? Am I just a nightlight now or is it changing somehow?’_  
Changing, that’s not something he wanted to think about.  
Right now he’s got a handle on it, but what if it wants to get back in the driver’s seat no matter the cost?  
Paul shook himself free of his thoughts as they continued through the city.   
Though as they walked, he glanced in shop windows, trying to keep watch on the one thing he hasn’t been sure about this whole time, himself.

* * *

  
“Honey! We’re home!” Steve shouted.  
Phoebe immediately got to sorting the parts Paul and Steve brought as Robin greeted them.  
“Welcome back! Did everything go alright?”  
Paul looked to the floor and wrapped his arms around himself as Steve explained.  
“Well we think something might be up cause uh- Paul’s eyes kinda glowed a bit when we were crossing through the park.”  
Robin’s face flashed with worry as Phoebe’s burst with rapid energy.  
“Why did you not report this the moment it happened!?”   
Before any answer could be given, Phoebe was working the floor.  
“Robin, get these materials back to the lab. Steve do the same and help her out. Now Paul we need to-”  
In the midst of the activity, no one noticed the door open or a figure slip inside.  
“Gotcha”   
Was all Paul heard before being grabbed from behind, his eyes a vibrant blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, with a virus in this streets I guess it's time to modify the ailment of the extraterrestrial variety. Sorry about the delay and the cliffhanger. I hope you enjoy this two chapter upload!


	10. Chapter 10

“NO!” Phoebe bellowed.  
Paul watched as his sight flew to the ceiling, his body slammed to the floor. A woman appeared in his sight with dark brown hair and green eyes.  
Oh, and blue oozing from her mouth, eyes, and nose.  
Blue gunk pelted Paul as she went to transfer the goop.   
Paul closed his eyes and clamped his mouth as he felt a weight lift off of him rather suddenly.  
 _‘Wow, that stuff works faster than I thought’_  
Paul opened his eyes to his new life, to discover it was simply the old one in disguise.  
Phoebe stood harboring one of the steel pipes requested, and random girl crumpled in a flurry of fallen chairs.  
Paul looked back to Phoebe as he went to sit up, realizing then that her mouth was moving and she had been talking to him.  
“PAUL! Are you still with us?” Phoebe yelled as she brandished her pipe.  
Paul became coherent real fast.  
“Yes! Yep! All me, all good, oh my!” Paul stammered, trying to stand.  
Her features relaxed though her voice retained urgency.  
“Steve! Help me sedate her and get her strapped. Paul!” She locked eyes, “Help Robin get the stuff to the lab, then meet me in the experiment room.”  
Everything moved in a flash after that.  
Paul scurried to assist Robin with the supplies, though she moved faster than him and stayed a good length ahead.  
Once everything was transferred, Paul went to isolate himself in the experiment room.  
“Oh yeah wait, did you need help with anything else, Robin?” Paul questioned.  
Robin looked to Paul, her face fearful but trying her best to hide it, though that message was conveyed loud and clear.  
“NO! No, I mean I’m all good I uh - I got this,” She stammered and sheepishly added, “You might wanna wipe the uh- blue gunk off your face.”  
Paul paled even more than his poor dehydrated system should allow.  
He sprinted past the suits and into the decontamination room. Paul watched as the doors slammed shut and all the blue s%&# flung to the walls, ripping away from him.  
As the doors opened, Paul sprinted to the table and crumpled beneath it - holding himself close. 

* * *

  
Time passed as Paul just stared at the glass doors. After an unknowable amount of time, Steve appeared in full hazmat suit with the woman from before unconscious in his arms.   
Paul remained still, appreciating his calm stasis as Steve went around to the other side of the table and strapped her onto it.   
Paul crawled out from underneath and went to the wall as everyone else appeared in full getup. They even had their own oxygen supply for their suits.  
Phoebe and Robin had something else as well, the machine Paul had rested all his hopes on.  
It had a nose and mouth sealing plastic face-mask on one end connected by a plastic hose to a metal duct which led down to a makeshift looking oven and a sloping side exit with some extra additions at the base where it juts out from.  
It looked like a smoker’s attempt at making a bong.  
 _‘Oh I hope appearances are deceiving’_  
As they set it down, Paul noticed a glass panel stretching all the way down to just about the bottom of the contraption.   
 _‘Great, at least everyone has an excellent view’_  
Paul cradled himself as Steve maneuvered the table so she was still strapped on, but also upright and leaning a bit forward. Robin made final adjustments and hooked up the machine as Phoebe called for Paul.  
With a huff, Paul stood up to face his fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please with everything that's going on, stay safe out there.


	11. Chapter 11

“So… how is this gonna work exactly?” Paul asked, prone on the ground right below the person who just attacked him.

Phoebe finished adhering the mask to the unconscious woman.

“Basically, we’ve sealed off the major outlets for the goop to excrete from, so there is only one main pathway for it to reach its target: you”

Paul cringed.

“Now we’re gonna bait it in the beginning by waking her up and having you down near the port under there, as you can see we also put some inactive on the inside of the main drop duct,”

Paul leaned from his position and looked inside through the ‘port’ or his ‘tunnel slide of horror’ to see a dull blue glow emanating from the top of the chute.

“So! Once we’ve confirmed a specific portion of the goop has been deposited, I’ll turn on the heat and force it into protective mode where we can easily collect it to be destroyed. Oh! And in case you’re worried about it accumulating too close to you,” Phoebe unlatched something above Paul as his view of the blue glow is immediately cut off, “We have some safety measures in place, are you ready for a momentous day in history?”

Paul relaxed back into his initial position with his mouth mainly in line with the chute. He gave a weak thumbs up as Robin reset the metal slider.

“Awesome! Let’s begin!”

Phoebe stood and administered something to the woman as Steve stood behind her with a video camera. Robin backed up and stood a good number of steps away from all of them.

“This is Phoebe Istavonoski performing a bodily purge on a female subject. It is 1:49 pm as we begin trial number one.”

As she began her statement, the woman had started to regain consciousness.

Her eyes opened and immediately bore a hole through Paul.

The woman spoke, “Now rejoin the process”

Blue began to ooze out of every orifice, though it mainly pertained to her nose and mouth. Still, seeing it leak from her eyes and ears was unsettling and especially as she loomed right above him.

She seemed to unfocus as the blue goop increased in intensity.

Phoebe broke the tension with a jackhammer.

“Alright! The flow of the goop is remaining steady and increasing as time passes.”

She grabbed Steve and maneuvered his arms to get footage of the woman then to the flow of the goop as it dropped down to the bottom of the duct.

The flow was steady, though as it filled, Paul became uneasy.

It began as mild twitching, but erupted as shivers cascaded throughout his body.

“Phoebe!?” Paul uttered with panic.

Phoebe groaned, “Hold on! It has to fill a little over halfway before I can ignite the burners, so hang on Paul!” 

He spasmed but held firm in his position.

His mind raged against this decision as a thought to move permeated his mind. 

Though, where to go was split. One part wanted to be as far away from this as possible. Meanwhile, another smaller subset yearned for him to rip into the machine and consume its contents.

At this point, Paul wasn’t sure what would happen, so with all his might he remained steadfast against both options.

As the bottom filled, Paul’s spasms steadily became worse and worse until he drifted into full on seizure territory. Robin ran to grab anything soft to surround him with as Phoebe glared at the levels. Steve filmed the machine, though his eyes never truly left Paul.

At some point, a beautiful sound reverberated through Paul’s skull.

It was enthralling, like a million crescendos gathered and began to pamper his mind in a full harmonious choir. Paul drifted as they gently gathered him up and cushioned him as he began to float.

_‘Bliss’_

This was all that could describe his feelings of perfect tranquility.

His mind began to clear as Paul opened his eyes. 

He found himself in a doctor’s office with the love of his life right in front of him...weeping?

The scene began to slow as amid her cries, Emma looked up to Paul with sorrow and agony. Though mainly, Paul noticed the most important thing.

She was looking at him in fear.


End file.
